Key takeaways:
- The Bank of Spain is overseeing the beta testing of EURM, a stablecoin backed by the euro, which is being conducted by the Spanish fintech company MONEI.
- Every EURM is held at Spanish banks like BBVA and Caixabank and is backed 1:1 by euros.
The Bank of Spain is overseeing the beta testing of EURM, a stablecoin backed by the euro, which is being conducted by the Spanish fintech company MONEI.
The trial in the regulatory sandbox, overseen by the Bank of Spain, started in January, as stated in the notice posted on MONEI’s website on January 29. It has a limited number of unique users to reduce the error margin.
To test the transactional capabilities of EURM, participants must authenticate themselves, upload their wallet, load up to 10 euros into their account, and then exchange those euros for 10 EURM. Every EURM is held at Spanish banks like BBVA and Caixabank and is backed 1:1 by euros.
The pilot is a further step towards the complete digitalization of payments, according to MONEI CEO Alex Saiz Verdaguer. He thinks that sending money will be possible with the new stablecoin in a way that is safer, more programmable, affordable, accessible, and democratic than before.
The statement states that in milliseconds, EURM will enable transactions between two individuals with access to a mobile phone. A commission fee of up to a thousandth of a euro will be charged for each transaction simultaneously.
The architecture of the stablecoin also offers several business possibilities, like real-time productivity bonuses “based on robotic instructions” and monthly or daily employee payouts.
In 2022, the Bank of Spain announced the start of its wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) program. The Bank of Spain said in January 2024 that it will be doing independent testing in collaboration with Cecabank, Abanca, and Adhara Blockchain, despite later remarks made by MONEI’s Verdaguer suggesting that EURM would eventually become the bank’s favored solution.
The digital euro project, which, if it were to be executed, would encompass all of the eurozone’s economies, is unrelated to the Spanish CBDC program, making it distinct.
Six months ahead of schedule, the Spanish Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation declared it would implement the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation of the European Union.
